The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-08-10
No More Weeping.

The glorified weep no more, for all
outward causes of grief are gone.
There are no broken friendships nor
blighted prospects in heayen. Power
ty, famine, peril, persecution and Sian
der are unknown there. No pain dis
tresses; no thought Of death or be-
reavement saddens. They weep no
more, for they are perfectly sanctified.
No "evil heart of unbelief" prompts
them to depart from the living God ;
they are without fault before his
throne, and are fully conformed to his
image. Well may they cease to mourn
who have ceased to sin. They weep
no more, because all change is past.
They know that they are eternally Sc
cure. Sin is shut out, and they are
shut in. They dwell within a city
which shall never be stormed; they
bask in sun which shall never set ;
they drink of q river which shall
never dry; they pluck fruit from a
tree which shall never wither.
Not the extent of our sphere OF
duty, but the perfect filling of that
sphere, is the real measure of our
merit and our need. Ones sphere OF
duty exists because he exists; it is an
essential part of his very being. AS
ones soul has its bodily limitations, so
also the circumference of ones sphere
is the immediate limitation of his
spiritual work and influence. Not for
the extent Of that sphere, then, but
for the manner and perfectness of our
filling of it, will God hold us RESPONSE
BILE. Our sphere IS the gift of God, as
our life and our powers are his gift.
This spiritual sphere, this limit, this
gift, is like the horizon which sur
rounds us. Every one of us must
have horizon whether he will or not,
albeit ones every movement affects
the form and breadth of his horizon.
Yet there is no movement that one OF
us can make which will annihilate his
horizon or permit him to step beyond
and outside of it. He is within that
circle because it is his; and it is his
because he is within it. No mans
sphere, therefore, can be too large for
him perfectly to fill, nor too small for
the full sway of his powers. His pow
ers are the measure of his sphere; and
being SO, his first and last duty is, day
by day, for larger or for smaller, per-
fectly to fill that sphere.
Religion, knowledge, freedom, vir-
tue, happiness, in all their manifold
forms, depend upon peace. Sustained
by peace they lean as upon the Ever
lasting Arm. In the name of religion
profaned by war; of knowledge mis-
applied; of freedom crushed to earth ;
Of virtue dethroned; of human happi-
ness violated, I call upon you to unite
to establish the supremacy of peace.
Let the old, the niddle-aged, and the
young combine in common cause.
Let the pulpit. the school, the college
and the public street all be moved to
speak in it's behalf. Preach it, minis
ter of the Prince of Peace! Let it
never be forgotten in conversation, in
sermon or in prayer; nor any longer
seek, by subtle theory, to reconcile the
monstrous war-system with the pre-
cepts of Christ! [nstil it, teacher of
childhood and youth, in the early
thoughts Of your precious charge; eX-
hibit the wickedness of War and the
beauty of Peace. Scholar! write it in
your books. Poet! let it inspire to
higher melodies your Christian song.
And to you, statesman and ruler let
the principles of peace be rs a cloud
by day and a pillar of fire 10y night.
Let the abolition of war and the over
throw of the war-system be your con-
slant aim.-CharleS Su1nneT.
The one thing to be guarded against
all the time and everywhere, by all of
us, is that subtle, plausible, deceptive
spirit of selfishness that assumes so
many disguises and calls itself by so
many soft names that only the most
watchful and the most prayerful are
safe from its approaches. by all Of us,
we say-and that includes the reader
who is ready to hand this paragraph
over to his neighbor.
Heaven knows what would become
Of our sociality if we never visit people
we speak ill of; we should live like
Egygtian hermits, in crowded solitude.
Great hearts alone understand how
much glory there is in being good.